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Condominiums to Rise Beside Transamerica Pyramid
East Bay Business Times
05/25/07
Friday, May 25, 2007 -- Transamerica Pyramid owner Aegon Group has tapped Lowe Enterprises Inc. to develop a 38-story condominium tower on a vacant lot adjacent to the financial district landmark.
Lowe is proposing a 248-unit building that would trigger a redesign of the Pyramid Center, a complex that includes the Transamerica Pyramid, 505 Sansome St. and Redwood Park, the half-acre cluster of soaring redwoods at the northern edge of the financial district. Under the proposed project, the gated redwood grove would be expanded and opened up to the public, while ownership of the park would be transferred to the city. In addition, Mark Twain Alley, a dead end which cuts from Sansome Street into the park, would be converted into a pedestrian piazza, with ground-floor restaurants spilling out from the new condo tower and other buildings along the alley.
Andy Segal, senior vice president for Lowe Enterprises Real Estate Group, said the project "will offer desirable residences and commercial space while also contributing to the city's long-term housing, transportation and urban park goals.
"We're trying to create a real neat urban experience on the ground, to maximize the value of the redwoods and bring Mark Twain (Alley) to life," said Segal.
The proposed 38-story height is nearly twice as tall as Aegon originally contemplated when looking at the site in 2005, and a variance would be needed to build beyond the site's 200-foot height limit. Project architect Jeffrey Heller of Heller Manus Architects said the planning department has pushed for a taller, more slender design, which would free up space on the ground for the expansion of Redwood Park.
In designing a building next to San Francisco's most iconic high-rise, Heller said, the design team faces a sensitive balancing act of being "respectful" while still coming up with an interesting building. Segal said the new structure would play a "suitable supporting role to the Pyramid." The design is still in its early stages.
"One thing you sure don't want to do is mimic the Pyramid," said Heller. "The building could be glassier, but there is a strong feeling that we don't take attention away from the Transamerica."
While thousands of units are under construction south of Market, the proposed tower at 555 Washington St. represents a rare chance to increase density on the financial district's northern edge, an area which borders historic Jackson Square, and is a short walk from Chinatown, North Beach and Telegraph Hill. Other housing being developed in the area includes two office-to-condo conversions: Atlantic Pacific Partners' 69-unit project at 733 Front St., and K2K Development's Residences at Jackson Square, a 13-unit rehab of 845 Montgomery St.
The last wave of residential development in the neighborhood took place in the late 1970s and 1980s, and included the 1,284-unit Golden Gateway Center apartments, as well as the 155-unit Golden Gateway Commons and the 102-unit 101 Lombard St.
District Three Supervisor Aaron Peskin, who represents the area, said he supports housing on the site, but has not reviewed the details of the latest proposal.
"At 38 stories, they would be talking about doubling the current height limit," said Peskin. "I don't know - we'll see what the neighborhood says."
Segal said a series of open houses would be held to brief community members on the project and a Web site developed to keep people informed. He stressed that it's still early in the process.
"This is many, many months away from even a public hearing," said Segal.
In addition to a vacant lot, the development would require the demolition of a one-story building on the corner of Washington and Sansome that houses a Vietnamese restaurant and a photography studio. Aegon, a Dutch insurance firm, purchased the entire block when it acquired Transamerica Corp. in 1999.
Frederick Allardyce, a Sotheby's Realtor who is president of the Barbary Coast Neighborhood Association, a group active in the area, said he would be watching the development closely.
"The opportunity is trying to retain the character of the city's original waterfront while making it work for people living here now," he said.
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